Kids Crochet at First Public HI Waldorf School

Kona Pacific Public Charter School is the first public school in Hawaii to use a Waldorf education model and one of the things that they are teaching under this new model is how to crochet according to a recent news report by Susan Essoyan. This makes sense since crocheting is a creative art that kids can begin learning at a young age and Waldorf education is all about using the imagination to develop both creative and analytical skills in children.

The Waldorf school had been a private school but it was closed and then eventually re-opened as a public tuition-free charter school. One of its primary goals is to teach children to love learning, stimulating them to explore the talents that they already have. Crochet is a talent that many kids can easily have.

And it arguably has many benefits for kids. It improves their attention to detail, their ability to read (if using patterns), their motor skills and allows them to create products, which in turn boosts self-esteem. Crochet can also be used to teach students about volunteerism, science and math.

I think it’s interesting to note that this school is considered a school that serves low-income students. Four out of ten students qualify for subsidized lunches at this school (which incidentally come primarily from food grown in gardens on campus). I think it’s great to stimulate creative thinking in such populations.

There is a lot of controversy about Waldorf schools. The kids don’t always rank the highest on standardized tests since this type of academic education isn’t emphasized at these schools. Personally I think a school that uses crochet as a teaching tool is a school that has at least one good thing going for it!